Hey guys,

I’ve been getting some awesome fan mail from you guys, and I hope you answers proved useful. For all of those who haven’t e-mailed me directly, sorry I haven’t been keeping up with the blog. I’ve just started work with Ubisoft and it’s been one helluva ride. I still have a lots I want to write about.  In fact, I have posts that are roughs and never finalized.  I’ll try to post more regularly. In the mean time, I’ve decided to post more content that I get from Tokyo Gaijins to fill the interim.  I love getting your fan mail questions so go for it! claudiajmng@gmail.com

Jan. 23~24 Myoko Suginohara ski/snowboarding

For questions contact: info@tokyogaijins.com

Enjoy a great weekend of skiing and snowboarding at Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort. This resort is extremely famed as one of the highest-caliber ski slopes in Japan, with 3,700 feet (1,124 m) in vertical drop and one of the longest ski runs in Japan at an unbelievable distance of 5.3 miles (8.5 km) in length.

Nice long trails designed with you in mind at any level. And with such long runs, you don’t have to worry about losing your valuable ski time waiting for the lifts. Its ski lifts swiftly bear skiers up to 2 miles (3 km) in one stretch, and it has three relating lines of quad lifts that can carry skiers to the peak. SNOWBOARDERS this is for you, since they offer a very nice snow park, where you can show off your skills. This resort has it all for every level of skier or snowboarder. A great chance to truly relax while playing in the snow.

Myoko Suginohara ski/snowboarding
January 23~24 (Saturday~Sunday)
Myokokogen, Niigata
Confirmed participants: 23 | Spots available: 22 | RSVP

A brief description of what will happen on the event:

* Fri (Jan 22)
- Meet at Tokyo station Yaesu central exit at 7:30pm
- Get on the bus
- Arrive in Myokokogen around 11:45pm
- Check-in at the lodge
- Sleep

* Sat (Jan 23)
- Breakfast at 7:30am
- Get the gear on
- Ski/snowboarding until 5pm
- Onsen/relax
- Dinner at 6pm
- Karaoke party

* Sun (Jan 24)
- Breakfast at 7:30am
- Get the gear on
- Ski/snowboarding until 4pm
- Onsen
- Check out at the lodge
- Get on the bus
- Arrive back in Shinjuku around 9:30pm
+++ End of the event +++

Price: 26,000yen
Price includes;
• Private bus transportation (round-trip)
• Two (2) nights accommodation
• Two (2) days lift pass
• Dinner for Sat
• Breakfast for Sat & Sun
• Ski insurance

Optional;
• Boots & ski/snowboard set (2,000yen for 2 days)
• Ski jacket & pants set (2,000yen for 2 days)
• Gloves (500yen for 2 days)
• Goggles (500yen for 2 days)
• Ski/snowboarding group lesson (3,000yen/person for 3hrs)
• Private room for couples (3,000yen/person for 2 nights)

Take note of the following:

• Itinerary may vary due to the weather, traffic conditions, and other unavoidable circumstances.
• Group discount (of 4 or more) 1,000yen/person.
• Minimum of 4 and maximum of 7 persons for shared room.
• Rooms are allocated to your preference, M or F only, mixed or group of friends.
• Private room for couples available at extra cost.
• Good skiers must rent/pay own boots & ski set directly from a proper rental shop to personally check the quality.
• Quality of rentals at the hotel are OK for casual skiers/snowboarders.
• Extra 2,000yen rental fee if boots size bigger than JPN 29.
• Ski/snowboarding group lesson is from 10am until 1pm on Saturday and it’s for beginners only.
• Lunch not provided but available at the ski resort.
• Vegetarians can be accommodated but advance notice necessary.
• Soap, shampoo & rinse are provided in the onsen.
• You can check-out at 10am the latest on Sunday but you must put your stuff in the luggage room before going ski/snowboarding.
• Final details will be sent to the participants two days before the event.

What to wear/bring:

• Skis/boots/poles (if you have)
• Snowboard/boots (if you have)
• Ski jacket/pants/gloves (if you have)
• Ski goggles (if you have)
• Winter/warm/thermal/extra clothes
• Winter hat
• Winter gloves
• Comfortable shoes/socks
• Towel
• Soap/shampoo/rinse
• Lip balm
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Eye mask
• Ear plugs
• MP3/iPod player
• Book (to read on the bus)
• Camera
• Cellphone
• Cash

They finally have a relatively tourist and short stay friendly system for prepaid phones. It is darn reasonable too! Before getting a cell was a crazy ordeal; You had to sign a contract and pay crazy rates for only 30 minutes a month!

Visiting friends for a short period of time is a pain without the coordination convenience of a phone. The only prepaid phones that were available were the ones for rent at the airport. THEY WERE AND STILL ARE TERRIBLE! The Rates are horrible and the phone is incredibly old. Worst is the LACK OF E-MAIL! If you have friends in Japan, this is a necessity.







Introducing the new softbank prepaid phone. It’s only 4000yen for the cellphone and prepaid phone cards. The rates are still pretty bad at 9 yen per 6 seconds. However, they don’t over charge you for short conversations, which I greatly appreciate. These prepaid cards can be purchased at local convenient stores if you run out of minutes.

Now the best part:
Unlimited e-mails for 300yen a month! isn’t that insane!?!
My old cellphone charged be 1000yen for every 10,000 e-mails… which seem like a lot… but you can blast thought it pretty quickly if you are using it like instant messaging.

Notes and the Catch:

• The phone only lasts for a year.
• You can only have e-mail only and emergency calls only up to 90 days. Otherwise you need to add more money to your prepaid minutes.
• Choosing you own e-mail is possible, but difficult to figure it out.  I had to use a crazy looking one.
• You need to get a Japanese person to handle the contract for you or have an alien registration card (my friend was able to do it without it… but that is a pretty big inconsistency… so assume that you need a Japanese person).
• Go to Flagship Softbank Stores!!! The one in Shibuya is the one I went to.  Locations that sell softbank phones like yodabashi and akiba do NOT have prepaid cells.  The large one in Harajuku might have it, but I have not confirmed.
• PUSH PUSH PUSH! I hiked all over the city trying to get this damn phone.  I called to make sure they had it, only for them to tell me that they didn’t.  When I insisted that someone confirmed that they did have it, than they were able to sell me the phone (not before disappearing for 15 minutes to check with their manager of course). It was frustrating needless to say.

Finding a Softbank Store:

• Maps of Flagship Stores!
• Harajuku:                      Shibuya:

So getting the phone was still a little painful and infuriating, but in the end I was infinitely satisfied with my phone. After everything, it cost me a little over 8000 yen to get me set up.  Of course, I am not counting the cost of training around the damn city >_<! I got the 730SC - I was satisfied with the screen, functionality, and buttons (if they are to flat its hard to type). However, I never figured out how to get infrared to work.

If you are indeed staying a longer time in Japan: Please check out my older posts on my overview of cellphone carriers How To’s#3:  Getting a Cellphone(j-phone)

Alright! Although my blog is mostly for people living in Tokyo for a longer period of time, I guess it provides it’s uses for travelers as well.

My friends and some of my blogs visitors have asked me about hotels.  Living in Japan, I’ve always sought my refuge in everything but hotels.






So your options are as such:

• Friends homes: I had host families and made lots of friends over the years. (Not everyone has a spare room, or as open to share their home… just a heads up)
• Hostels: are good but still a little unsafe. (Your stuff can still get stolen!)
• Ryokan (旅館): Japanese style hotels are expensive but super nice!  You get to wear the yukatas and eat japanese billion course meal ^_^
• Minshuku (民宿): Japanese style bed and breakfast.  Usually owned by families.  Food is usually mediocre and AC is limited.
• Hotels: I stayed at Daichi in Kichijoji, nice but expensive. Loved the brunch buffet!

If you are unfamiliar with Japanese customs (bathing, cuisine, squatting toilets), I suggest you stay at a hotel. Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, and Kichijoji have Airport Limousines (If I am not mistaken). Those are far more convenient than taking the train. With luggage and such, it’s going to be a pain to navigate through the crowded stations. Especially, if you are going to Shinjuku!

Warning: Do not book a hotel near the airport.  Narita is 2 hours away from Tokyo and it is not a cheap train ride!

There are Japanese websites that aggregate hotel rates, but alas, they are in Japanese…and chances are, if you reading this post, you cannot read Japanese.  However, I do have a solution!

I love sites like these, I mean I like saving money…but my time is also worth something as well.  So you’ll know you’ll get a good deal if you use one of these sites:

• Hotelscombined.com : It’s searches a over 30 hotel booking website, so it’s a pretty good resource.
• Booking.com: Similar…If you select the hotel, it will tell you which rooms they have available those days.

• Comfortable shoes
• Dufflebag (you are gonna have tons of stuff to bring home^_^)
• Simple phrasebook
• Camera
• Medicine (Ibuprofen, stomach medicine)
• CASH (The country mostly operates in cash on a day to day basis; credit cards are only for large purchases)

So I know how it is.

You go anywhere in Tokyo and you’ll end up having to spend a bunch not only on transportation, but on food and whatever cool nick knacks you find.

I will now introduce you to my cheapest and favorite pass time in Japan.

Shisha!

Yes…I do indeed speak of hookah or the water tobacco.  Guess what… it is dirt cheap and good.  You get your own hookah for 400 yen and you are expected to buy a drink from around 200 yen.  All in all, it’s a really cheap way to spend a couple hours.  I used to go here about once a week.  They also offer free mixes.  My personal favorite flavors are: Honey and Rose/Vanilla mix.  This place is literally a hole in the wall and super tiny.  Still a great place with great people though.

(Warning: whoever said hookah is better for you than cigarettes was lying.  I am telling you up front that it is like smoking 100 cigarettes.  You have been warned…Also, water tobacco isn’t legal in Japan…but they get away with calling themselves something herbal.  Just an FYI.. You aren’t going to get deported or anything, so no worries)

It is located in a place very close to my heart… Shimokitazawa(下北沢,)

Shimokitazawa is a great spot for cheap dining and shopping and very much has a culture of it’s own.  It reminded me of Haight Ashbury in San Francisco.  In fact, there is a store called Haight Ashbury!  This is not covered in a lot of tourist books so it’s tourist free.  Only people who have stayed in Tokyo for a while know of this place.   It’s also a great place to meet other cool international people.

STEP BY STEP DIRECTIONS WITH PHOTOS

Step 1: Trains

You can take a train from Shinjuku or Shibuya.  I normally ride from from Shibuya on Keio.  Shinjuku and Odakyuu still confuses the hell out of me.  So save yourself the heartache and take the Keio Line in Shibuya toward Meidaemae (train map).  If you are taking local, it is 4 stops; rapid is only 1 stop.

Step 2: Do you see this sign? If you don’t, you are at the wrong station!

Step 3: It is a little tricky and maze like but you can do it! Just makes sure you are heading toward this sign.  You want to go North. Once you arrive at the gate, go right and head toward North exit.

Step 4: Turn left when you exit.   You should see the Mizuho bank.

Step 5: Walk up the parked bikes.  You will have no choice but to turn right.

Step 6: When you reach the T intersection the right again.  (This use to be a Isetan…not sure what it’ll be now)









Step 7:keep walking.  You will walk a few more blocks.  You’ll pass a “freshness burger”  and Starbucks.  You’ll eventually walk down a small decline and see a Lawons on your right.







Step 8: Turn left at the Lawsons and walk a block or two.You will pas under the shimokitazawa ichibangai sign.  you will reach a T intersection and smell the wonderful sheesha.  Next to the hookah shop is the a french restaurant.